Dianan
Dianan is a Seelie Sidhe, presumably a Wilder, of House Fiona and ruler of the Duchy of Appalachia. Overview Born in Jonesborough, Tennessee, Dana McClelland spent her childhood exploring the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Even as a child she loved to read, delighting in fairy tales and romance stories. Whenever her mother caught her with a book, though, she always seemed to have something else Dana needed to do: shelling peas, hanging the washing, doing the dishes, sweeping the porch, or darning socks. She often told her daughter that idle hands and a book on make-believe would lead her to a bad end. Since there was no television at Dana's house, she visited her school friends on weekends. Attending a pajama party, she discovered that many of her friends enjoyed telling and listening to stories, especially scary ones. Almost every scary story featured a frail, but plucky, heroine who was rescued from a fate worse than death by a tall, dark, mysterious stranger. She tried to picture herself in such roles and decided she'd want to be a little more self-sufficient. Why can't the heroine ever rescue herself? she wondered. Still, flawed stories were better than none, and even some of the sillier television programs piqued her interest. As long as she could remember, each October Jonesborough filled to overflowing with people who set up colorful tents all around the town. Dana's mother dismissed the Jonesborough National Storytelling Festival as a "terrible inconvenience for the locals so some bigwig could hoodwink a lot of people out of a bunch of money." She refused to let Dana attend and went out of her way to be rude to strangers in town. One year, though, her mother allowed her to sleep over at her friend Suzie's house during the festival. Suzie's mother and father gathered them all together and went to hear some of the stories being told. Dana was fascinated. She sat for hours drinking in the forbidden tales. Then a sprightly fellow named Jack told a story all about the Good Folk, speaking of the noble lords and ladies, so gallant aboard their fairy steeds, all clothed in light and dreams. As the rest of the audience sat spellbound, Dana stepped through a shimmering curtain that appeared before her and entered the land of the fae. Well, not really, but she touched the Dreaming as she underwent her Chrysalis. At first it was wonderful, just like the story Jack was telling. Then it changed. She saw death and destruction and foul, blackened entities who chased her howling for her blood. She seemed to be lost on a dark, twisted path running and running as if her life depended on it. Somehow, she felt that her life did hang in the balance. If she could escape, she'd live. If not... She recalled her name, Lady Dianan of House Fiona. She remembered leaving Arcadia and being attacked along the path back to Earth, where she incarnated as a baby. Nothing more was clear to her. Then she was falling, tangled in wild branches as the horrific things sprang for her throat. Reaching for a sword that wasn't there, she cried for help. And she was answered. Stepping between her and the ravening attackers rose a tall, dark figure. He swung a silver blade at the beasts, and she heard them yelp. They scattered and disappeared into the shadows as if they had never been. He turned, and she beheld the face of Count Bjorno for the first time. He's blue! she thought, then shook her head ruefully. "Of course he's blue, he's a troll." she mumbled under her breath. As suddenly as her dream began, she found herself back in the mortal realm, listening to the applause as Jack bowed and left the stage. She could have sworn the storyteller winked at her as he tipped his hat to the audience. Her hand lay in the oversized palm of Billy Mjolner, chief tackle on the high school football team. Not even thinking about what she was doing, she threw her arms around him and hugged him. Suzie looked at her strangely, and Billy turned bright red. Dana let go, marveling that he didn't look as he had just a few minutes before. "We have to talk," Billy whispered to her once Suzie's attention was back to the next storyteller. He indicated a nearby store, then got up and walked away. A few minutes later, Dana claimed she needed a trip to the ladies' room and went to the store. Billy was waiting for her. In the next few hours, Dana learned of her fae heritage and that her mother was something called an Autumn Person. Billy told her that he had been waiting for her for two years, but could never get close enough when her mother wasn't around or they weren't in school to help her remember who she was. Finally, they could be together as they had been once before. Billy took her to a beautiful glade near town where she felt another upsurge of what she now knew was Glamour. An old shack rested beneath a tree just inside the glade. Billy pushed open the door just as Dana realized it wasn't a shack, but a tiny replica of a palace with miniature turrets and a red and silver banner flying from a pointed tower. Two regal silver lions guard the red oak door. They bowed as she came near. Billy, no Count Bjorno, held the door for her. "Welcome home, my lady," he said. It was just like a romance story. In the years that followed, Dana and Billy graduated from high school. Dana got a job and moved out of her mother's house. Billy got a position with an ecological awareness group. Whatever time they had, the spent together. Though Count Bjorno always deferred to Lady Dianan, she realized her troll protector knew fae more about being a changeling than she did. They exchanged knowledge, and her confidence grew as she learned more. She began to write romances, first stories then novels, under the pen name of Melissa Ardsley. She gained quite a following and was able to quit her job and concentrate on her stories. Eventually, the met other Kithain, some of whom were drawn by Jonesborough by the storytelling festival. One such visitor was Berin O'Donnell from Willow's Heart. When he reported back that a noble of House Fiona was living in eastern Tennessee guarded by a loyal troll follower, Meilge was overjoyed. At last, he had found a sidhe to rule over the rebellious and insular fae of the region. He immediately appointed her Duchess of Appalachia. Though she does not remember living there before, Dianan has reclaimed Orchard Castle, which she built before the Shattering as her freehold. She holds informal court there whenever Kithain visit. She also hosts Nunnehi visitors who remember the oaths of friendship she once swore with them. Though many were displaced along with their people by the Trail of Tears, they do not forget their friends from times past. Someone she almost never sees in her mother. The woman's constant disapproval and cold Banality strip away everything Dianan cherishes about herself. She always makes certain Bjorno knows she's visiting her mother before she goes, just in case she leaves so Banalized she can't remember who she truly is. Her chief sadness, though, concerns Count Bjorno (a title he held even before meeting her). Dana loves Billy and Dianan loves Bjorno, but the stubborn troll insists that he is her protector, claiming he but follows an oath he took upon himself long ago. He refuses to say more, though she knows there must be something else he isn't telling her. She could, of course, order him to tell her, but the proud troll would never forgive her. Sometimes she wishes he'd be a little less noble and a little more attentive to her need for something more than his protection. She has started a book about the two of them, hoping that a solution to her dilemma will present itself the way it always does to the heroines in her books. Dianan has developed the Arts of Sovereign, Dreamcraft, and Primal. She had not forgotten her vision of the things that chased her on her return from Arcadia, and she wants to be prepared should she ever meet the again. She writes very well and has a storyteller's eye for detail. Dianan is a good listener and very adept at solving puzzles and problems. She often has dreams that prove to be metaphors for things that later happen. Image Dana is 5'4" tall, weighs a little under 110 pounds, and has light brown hair cut short and styled for easy care. Her eyes are a clear blue. She usually wears comfortable clothes. In her fae mien, Dianan's hair becomes a cloud of gold-shot downy brown that surrounds her face with graceful curls. She wears a rich red gown with the silver lion as a decoration at hem and throat. Personal From her admittedly banal beginnings, Dianan has come a long way. She sees herself as one of the new breed of Southern women: self-sufficient, talented, tough, and determined, but no less feminine for that. She has always felt that Southern women, particularly mountain women, have been overlooked for too long, especially considering some of the difficulties and prejudice they labor under. She is certain that her mother would have been very different had she had the sort of chances Dana herself has had to express herself rather than being beaten into repeating foolishness drummed into her head by her own parents. Dianan won't be caught in that trap. She just wishes that Bjorno would notice that she can take care of herself. Maybe then he'd sweep her off of her feet like the hero is supposed to do! References # CTD. Kingdom of Willows, pp. 116-117. Category:Seelie (CTD) Category:Sidhe (CTD) Category:House Fiona (CTD) Category:Fae of Unknown Seeming